Document preparation has become increasingly sophisticated in recent years. Conventional image forming devices, such as laser printers, ink jet printers, facsimile devices, etc., have continued to evolve to provide advances including increased throughput, improved imaging and increased efficiencies.
Conventional printer configurations are typically coupled with a host computer system, or alternatively, with numerous host computer systems via a network. The host computer system(s) is configured to interface with the appropriate printer. The host computer system may be arranged to download a print job to the printer via an associated connection. Some conventional printers are configured to parse the incoming data, to rasterize the data, and to print an image corresponding to the data.
Such conventional arrangements provide a driver, such as a page description language (PDL) driver, within the host computer system. Exemplary page description languages include PCL and Postscript. The associated printer includes a parser which is configured to operate in conjunction with the appropriate page description language driver of the host computer system. The attached printer may have plural page description language parsers for use with multiple drivers.
Following processing within the appropriate page description language parser, the received data is rasterized and applied to the print engine of the printer. Thereafter, imaging of the data upon media is usually performed.
Conventional printers and other image forming devices typically individually include a DC converter coupled with an external AC power source. The DC power supplies common in conventional printer configurations may individually enjoy an approximate 80% efficiency rating at normal operational levels and loads.
However, it is attractive to provide power save modes of operation for printers and other image forming devices during extended periods of inactivity. Such power save modes are modes wherein some components of the image forming devices are shut down to provide reduced power consumption. The efficiencies of typical DC power supplies may drop from approximately 80% at the normal operating levels to less than 50% at such low power levels. The drop in efficiency is due to switching and conduction losses in switches as well as losses in the snubbers and magnetic circuits in conventional DC power supply configurations. Accordingly, such image forming devices operate in a relatively inefficient manner during the power save mode of operation.
New regulations issued by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), such as Energy Star limitations, impose stricter power save mode power consumption levels for printers and other image forming devices. Conventional printers and other imaging forming devices will have great difficulty in meeting these new limits as well as stricter limits in the future due to the above inefficiencies.
Therefore, there exists a need to provide devices and methodologies providing increased efficiencies.